First Clear-Slaying the Evil-Eyed Demon King!

"Clang—!"

A metallic clash rang out and spread through the air. Balor, who had been holding a greatsword, vanished from where he stood the next instant and swung his weapon down at Wood.

For all his enormous size, Balor was astonishingly fast. And the moment he attacked, he went straight for Wood's head.

Caught off guard by the sudden assault, Wood hurriedly drew the long sword at his waist to block.

Even though it was coated in Armament Haki, the scabbard of the long sword in Wood's hand was still shattered in an instant by Balor's greatsword.

Wood hadn't used his strongest form of Armament Haki, Ryuo. But even his ordinary Armament Haki was astonishingly powerful.

And yet the wooden scabbard coated in Armament Haki was still smashed apart by a single blow, revealing the black blade inside, which was also coated in Haki.

The moment the two weapons collided, a tremendous shock wave swept outward. The ground beneath them instantly split into a web of cracks.

"Haah—!"

With a fierce shout, Balor's arms bulged with veins as he swung his greatsword and sent Wood flying with a single blow.

Wood used Geppo in midair to steady himself. Then, with the hand that wasn't holding his sword, he raised it as a red magic circle lit up.

"Saint-level Fire Magic: Crimson Nova!"

A violent wave of heat swept through the area as a huge tongue of flame burst from the red magic circle in front of Wood.

The fire was so hot that the air turned scorching in an instant.

Yet as the flames—powerful enough to kill a Floor Boss on the twenty-seventh floor—rushed toward Balor, a barrier suddenly appeared in front of him without warning.

The high-temperature flames were stopped the moment they struck the barrier. Balor swung his